Exploring Arches National Park; Spectacular Scenery Offers Endless Photo Opportunities:
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Shoot The Signs
While exploring Arches, take some time to read and photograph the trail signs. Not only will you learn about the geology of the arches, but you’ll be able to share that information with family and friends. Photo tips (such as the best time of day to photograph) and hiking tips are also noted on the signs.

Shoot The Signs

Keep It Clean!
In addition to experiencing spectacular scenery in Arches, you’ll experience something else: fine sand that might find its way onto your image sensor (if you shoot with a digital SLR) when you are changing lenses.

Several products are available for keeping your sensor free from small particles—that can look like huge blobs in your pictures! First of all, you never want to clean your sensor in the field. Rather, do it in your hotel room or if you must, in your car. Also note that you are not cleaning the sensor. Rather, you are cleaning the low-pass filter that is over the sensor. If you apply too much pressure on the filter, it will break. If that happens, you’ll probably need a new camera, as the repair cost would be staggering. That said, I’ve been cleaning my sensor (filter) for five years and have never had a problem.

Blower brushes are the easiest and safest way to clean the sensor. Simply put your camera on the Sensor Cleaning mode and blow away the particles.

For hard-to-remove particles, you might want to try Sensor Swabs and Eclipse liquid (www.photographicsolutions.com) or a Sensor Brush (www.visibledust.com). Caution is advised when using any sensor cleaning products, as I stated earlier. But if you follow the product’s directions, you should be fine.

If it gets windy, you may want to wrap your camera in a plastic bag or “borrow” the shower cap from your hotel room to help keep all those flying particles off your camera.

For travel and park information, including info on weather, hiking, fees, camping, and so on, visit www.arches.national-park.com.

Rick Sammon has published 27 books, his latest is “Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2.” His latest interactive DVD—“Adobe Photoshop CS2 for the Portrait and Wedding Photographer”—is the latest DVD available on www.rickspixelmagic.com. This info-packed DVD includes 20 lessons that make learning fast and fun. For more information about Sammon, visit www.ricksammon.com.